Etuemena plans big for Heartland

Chairman of Heartland Football Club of Owerri, Chief Goodfaith Etuemena has unfolded big plans to restore the club’s past glory. He revealed this among others in an exclusive interview with Sports Champion in their new base at Okigwe, Imo State recently. Excerpts:

Heartland under your charge experienced torrid season last term having escaped relegation by whiskers, what is the tonic injected into the team for its recent resurgence this season?

We didn’t start very well and what happened last season was more of an embarrassment to the team and its enthusiastic teeming fans across the globe but we thank God that the league ended abruptly.

Indeed, it was God that ended the league in an inconclusive manner and that saved the season for our darling clubside. In fact, I told people that if God could end the 2017/2018 league inconclusively that way, it means that God has a bigger plan for Heartland Football Club because the ended league favoured mostly my team.

Now that we are into the new (2018/2019) football season, Heartland is currently doing well on the league table, that’s also God in action apart from some few things we did as human beings by recruiting quality and talented players as well as getting those players in good time before the commencement of the on-going league season. The players no doubt are doing very well at the moment and we give God all the glory.

As the league is still in the first stanza, I am also confident that we’ll progress well during the second stanza of the league. It’s my humble believe that the Almighty God that started this good journey of success will also see us through by the time the league ends later in the year.

What are your expectations for Heartland Football Club this season?

My expectation this season is to bring back good memories of things that the club is known for and this has to do with hard work. I am promising the citizens of Imo State that my management will put smiles back on their faces. They should expect those good memories that have not been seen for a long time back.

In a nutshell, Heartland will not only finish well but would be among the top six that will participate in the play-off at the end of the abridged season. The team would be among the top three teams that will pick continental ticket to represent the country next and I’m very confident that the Almighty God, who picked me up from nowhere to somewhere, I mean from grass to grace will help me to achieve big things with this club. I can also assure our teeming fans and supporters all over the globe that God Almighty who started this journey for us will end it well.

How do you see the relocation of Heartland FC to Okigwe?

It’s an instruction by God who through a vision asked me to move the team away from Owerri to Okigwe. Whatever I do I place God first, so I obeyed and move the team temporary to Okigwe. Presently, I can say that there is no comparison between the Dan Anyiam stadium and the newly built Okigwe stadium.

More so, I employed a foreign technical adviser for the team who wouldn’t like to see the ball bounce anyhow and confuse the players on the field of play. He wants to make the team look professional. I’m happy to see the players being excited playing and enjoying their game. Earnestly, I would like to express my unalloyed gratitude to the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha for putting up this beautiful structure in Okigwe.

Aside the Okigwe stadium, there’s another standard stadium at Orlu. In fact, Imo State remains the only state in Nigeria that can boast of two or more standard stadia at the same time and we’re enjoying it.

What is your view on the abridge league after ten matches played so far in the current season in terms of officiating and administration?

I have to commend both the Nigeria Referees’ Association (NRA) who is in charge of referees and the League Management Council (LMC) for managing the nation’s professional football league respectively.

If I may recall, at our last meeting of club owners and the LMC prior to the commencement of this year’s football season, there’s is this five-year ban introduced that if any referee misbehaves, such a person will be sanctioned or face five years ban and I have to commend the LMC for introducing such a penalty while hoping that this will continue for the rest of the season in order to check abnormalities inherent in the league and to sanitize the nations’ football league.

No doubt, we have talented players all over the country and most of our coaches are good but the officiating during matches sometimes resulted in bloodshed and is nothing to write home about.

If I may recall especially when I returned to Nigeria newly, the first experience I had was in Jos when Heartland went down on relegation for the first time. Then, there were all sorts of bloodshed in our various league venues. The center referee who man-handled a league game in Jos last season escaped unpunished. It wasn’t a good experience at all and each time I remember it, I feel like crying because Nigeria cannot move forward in football like that. Today, however, I am seeing something a little bit different
although not hundred percent but if they add more they will really achieve well.

Recently, you received an award from the Imo State Chapter of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN). Do you see it as a surprise?

No. I didn’t see it as a surprise rather I am happy and feel honoured. You see one good thing deserves another. I see the award as something that can propel me to do more for the club.

In fact, ever since I came back to Nigeria, I love the world of professionalism and Heartland been a premier league side also heightened my desire to turn it into a more professional team in terms of transformation of the players, innovation, motivation, encouragement and among others.

In fact, this (SWAN) award is not my first since I returned to Nigeria. I had a prestigious award tagged ‘transformation and innovation’ given to me by Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri and the most recent award I received came from the host community – Okigwe where Heartland are currently playing their home matches for excellent performance.I’m indeed happy that SWAN recognized the little things I’ve been able to put into our darling team so far and saw it as something that should be appreciated; hence, they came up with such an idea.

In a nutshell, I see the award as desirable and added motivation to do more for football in Imo state. I really feel honoured and encouraged by this award and this will add more to my plans of transforming the team.Which area of the team would you like to beef up during the mid-season transfer and who among the players has impressed you?

I’m not the coach of the team and as such I don’t meddle with team selection.

My task is to manage the team as chairman of the club and I haven’t imposed any player before my coaches rather I do recommend to them if I see any good player but it all depends on the decision of the handlers to implement my recommendations. The coaches have free hand to do their work.

More so, I do encourage periodical meetings with the technical crew and encourage pep-talks with the players when necessary. I do give the technical handlers free hands to do their jobs.

Are there some impediments or challenges you envisaged that may hinder you from achieving your set goals or target if not addressed?
Football, especially in Nigeria is all about money. I want to sincerely thank the executive governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha for what he has done for sports in Imo State and especially Heartland Football Club.We pray that the Almighty God will encourage the governor to always provide us with more funds whenever the need arises especially now that Heartland Football Club is doing very well in the league this season.

Also, I would like to use this medium to plead with the governor to do more for the club by providing more funds for the day to day management of the club and as well to enable us carry on with the activities of the team.

Since we left the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri for the Okigwe Township Stadium, so many things have changed. This is the first time in many years that Heartland are enjoying a good sporting atmosphere.

The governor has done very well already by providing better camping facilities where players can play and take a quick shower with ease and feel relaxed. He has also provided better sporting structures like the field of play but we still want him to do more.
We now have good pitches and the players are happy plying their trade there. We no longer talk about the camp, pitch and environment again; rather we talk about money to run the club as a true professional side.

Indeed, the club needs more and better funding to enable it achieve excellence this season because football in the country is a huge investment which requires a lot of money. I want to earnestly appeal to our governor to help us in this direction.

How best do you think that the nation’s football league can be improved upon and do you have any advice for the League Management Committee?

Apart from the earlier crisis that happened in some league venues when this year’s premier league started where some referees were battered by irate fans which nearly brought the league into disrepute, the LMC should be commended.

I would like to urge every chairman or club administrator to always put in their best and encourage their team because they will never know what the future holds in stock for them. They should look beyond where they are now and remain focused in order to ensure that we have a good league.

There’s no doubt that the League Management Committee (LMC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) are doing their best to improve the standard of football in the country in terms of management and administration. However, they need to put in their best at all times towards improving our nation’s football.

What advice would you give to the handlers and players of Nigeria’s Flying Eagles team who qualified recently for the U-20 World Cup?
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria has done very well to qualify for the world Cup and I have already congratulated both the players and their handlers. Nigerians are very proud of them for achieving that heroic feat though the handlers still have lots of work to do make them a formidable squad ahead of the junior mundial.

I can assure you that the Flying Eagles will soar higher in the championship if they put their acts together and also well motivated the nation’s football ruling body (NFF).

Albeit, I would like to urge the NFF to do their best to keep the players intact while providing all their needs and necessary incentives to spur them to victory.

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